Discern the Truth
by TwinCarcino
Summary: Sixteen students trapped and forced into a deranged game to kill one another. Try as they might to stay strong against Monokuma's motives, their numbers will dwindle and sanity be tested.
1. A Regular Day in an Irregular Scenario

**Authors Note:** So I wanted to get back into the swing of writing since I'd lost my motivation for the past few months, don't know how long it'll take to return to my other stories since my energy for writing in those fandoms is completely zapped, but this is a story I've been planning for a very long time (Before V3 even, though I've had to make extensive changes to the original plan because of all that V3 gave us).

That is I've spent lots and lots of time planning out the murders, the investigations and trials. So even though this will be my first Danganronpa fic (and a Fangan Ronpa of all things!) I hope you guys can still enjoy it. If I get something wrong, feel free to point it out!

* * *

The warm air tickled Shio's face as she slowly came to, a breeze brushed against her skin and she slowly opened her eyes to stare up at the clear blue sky above her, white clouds gently rolling by above. The day was nice, beautiful even.

Pushing herself up to sit, Shio rubbed some sleep from her eye and swiveled her head about to look at her surroundings. The dorms looking as pristine as ever, a few students talking by picnic tables and a few were walking towards the university centers building. If things were different, she would have just shaken it off as a regular day at a college as freshman. Though a problem with that was she was still in high school, so it was hardly regular.

Shio turned her head to look forward, a frown forming on her face as she stared up at the towering metal wall that left her and the others trapped on this campus.

Nothing about this day was regular, nothing about this situation was regular.

One week ago Shio had been preparing for a violin recital, something she enjoyed greatly, it was her talent after all. Six days ago she woke up on this enclosed campus with fifteen other students. Six days ago she found she was forced to participate in a killing game forced upon them by a twisted black and white bear.

Of course that caused strife among the students forced here and it was no easy task for Shio to get the others to calm down and worth together. Though she wouldn't really call it working together for some as much as it was a tolerance and uneasy peace. Still, she wasn't sure how it happened, but she had become the de facto leader of the group after taking charge on the first day when everyone else was in a confused and scared mess.

It wasn't a role that Shio wanted to take, but if it meant she could prevent someone from being killed like Monokuma wanted, then she'd gladly take the reins and try to keep everyone safe.

Her classmates were… oddballs, some of them. But, Shio was sure that they could get along and be friends. It might be hard with some, but she had hope and determination on her side! She even already had a few she could consider as a friend.

Daichi Akemi in particular she thought as she spotted his messy blue hair and red neckerchief as he headed out of the door to the dining area of the university center. Unlike the others, who's talent they knew and remembered, Daichi seemed unable to remember his which painted him with some suspicion early on. Some of the others refused to trust him simply because he couldn't tell them what his talent was, but Shio had been able to dissuade the mistrust, or at least get them to keep it to themselves. Even Shio remembered her talent with the violin. The two just gravitated naturally to each other on the first day, working to explore what parts they could together of their prison, getting to know the others, she liked to think that her and Daichi made a pretty good team.

And she wanted to help him, help him remember his talent and help him find his confidence. The guy always looked like he was about to jump out of his skin and she could only imagine that if the tension rose in their situation, it would not affect him well. He was a ball of anxiety and she wanted to help keep him grounded.

There were others of course. Yuu Kobayashi was sweet, she didn't seem to hold any sort of ill will towards anyone and Izumi was a force of energy and cheer. Even among the guys, Hayato Himura, though he kept to himself, seemed genuine, he had no interest in participating in a game where they killed each other and Takahiko Saikawa made it clear that he wasn't afraid to give a black eye to anyone who even tried. The others, she couldn't say for sure, she didn't want to distrust her friends, but she couldn't say she knew what went on in their heads.

But she knew that they could work together. It might be hard, it'd take some work, but Shio was confident that they could work together and put a stop to this horrible game they had been put in.

She'd even begun to notice that some had even began moving towards each other, developing little pairs and groups of their own, and that pleased her. She rarely saw Takahiko and Yuu separate, for example, and she often saw Aito lingering near them like he wanted to join but wanted to keep a distance at the same time. Even Hikaru and Kasumi tended to stick near one another, and of course there was herself and Daichi. It was nice to see the others were making their own friendships and teams, and not isolating themselves from the others.

What really worried her though, wasn't just the fact that they were trapped in this campus and being told they have to kill each other to get out. It was the crucial piece of all of this that no one else seemed to remember, the part that made this so much worse than what it already was, the similarity to-

"Uehara-san," Shio looked up, her train of thought broken, to see Daichi had reached her and gave him a smile. He didn't meet her eyes, running a hand through his messy blue locks and keeping his other in the pocket of his jacket. "Do you want to head to the meeting spot? It's about time we all get together."

The meeting spot. It was nothing more than an outdoor seating area a little off to the side with a stone bench in a U shape. Shio had suggested that they keep some form of regularity in their lives while here, and among the ideas had been a daily meeting to discuss anything they had discovered or any problems they found. Its purpose was to try and strengthen bonds among each other while also working to find ways out of this prison.

They'd meet up every day at five, right before dinner, and so far over the two days it seemed to be working well enough. Only Mitsuru complained about it, but Shio had a feeling Mitsuru would complain about everything if given the chance.

But she kept smiling as she pushed herself up, brushing some black locks of hair behind her ear, "It's that time already? I guess I lost track of time, thanks for reminding me," she hadn't actually forgotten, she'd been well aware of the time, but the gratitude made Daichi feel better so she'd give it to him. "Let's get going, Akemi-kun, it'd be awkward if we were late."

He didn't say much, but smiled and walked at her side as they made their way across the grass to the area just hidden behind a corner of the dorm.

There were a few already there.

Aito Shigaraki was sitting on one end of the stone bench, his white hair as messy as always with the heavy bags under his eyes and disheveled clothes. He was the Ultimate Forensic Pathologist, and from what Shio understood that meant he studied dead bodies. She hated to admit it, but Aito kind of creeped her out. Sometimes he looked unhinged and he made it clear that if someone died he'd love to take a look at their insides.

On the other side of the spectrum was Izumi Hayasha. Despite earning her talent for being a thief, she wasn't a bad person as far as Shio could tell, if she looked past the whole being an actual criminal thing. When Mitsuru challenged her on the first day for "trying to control them" or something, Izumi stepped in and backed Shio up with how she was the only one trying to do something other than panic while Mitsuru was doing nothing. She even promised not to steal anything from the other students, unless they did something to make her mad, and so far she'd been trustworthy. Daichi seemed to like her well enough, too.

"Hello, Hayasha-san, Shigaraki-kun," Shio greeted with a smile as she took a seat at the bench, the stone felt warm against the bright sun. Daichi took a seat beside her, situating himself between herself and Shigaraki, as though the lanky individual would try and attack her. She knew that he distrusted Aito and a part of her wanted to chastise him for not having faith in their friends, but chose to bite her tongue. It'd do no good to draw attention to him right now when Aito didn't seem to notice or care.

He didn't even respond to her greeting with more than a small hum as he fiddled with mangling the flower in his hand.

Izumi on the other hand smiled brightly and leaned over the stone bench, "Aah~! Shio-chan, it's so nice to see you again, it's a beautiful day today, isn't it? Though these past few ones have been just lovely as well. Not nearly as lovely as you, though," she smiled and it was brighter than the sun. "And Daichi-kun, you're looking as handsome as ever, though I still think it'd be nice of you if you'd give me your neckerchief, the warehouse in the campus doesn't have one like that."

Daichi blushed and didn't look at her but gripped the red fabric around his neck, "Sorry, Hayasha-san, but, like I said before I'm not giving it up."

The thief just giggled and waved it off. Shio was happy to see her in such good spirits like usual, she'd be worried if Izumi suddenly became solemn.

Gradually the other students started filtering in, some on their own and some in groups of two or three until all sixteen were seated and the meeting was ready to commence.

Beside Izumi sat Hayato Himura the survivalist, and beside him was Ren Taikiyo an actor. The screenwriter, Yuu Kobayashi sat between him and Takahiko Saikawa, a Taekwondo champion. Goro Kobe, an obnoxious Go player was between Takahiko and herself while Daichi was stuck sitting next to the figure skater herself, Mitsuru Kita.

From there it went to Hikaru Yoshii the residential adrenaline junkie and racer, and Kasumi Sasaki, a graceful dancer. Eisuke Watanabe, the Ultimate Archer sat next to her, and next to Eisuke was Tsubasa Watanabe the basketball player and then Kousuke Nakamura, the photographic memory. Taiyou Adachi sat between Kousuke and Aito, being the only one to not disclose his talent but rather keep saying he had a different talent whenever asked.

There was some murmuring among the group and Shio brought her hands together in a clap to quiet down the chatter and start the meeting. Monokuma had begun breathing down their necks lately about no one being killed, they needed to come up with a plan.

"By the sounds of things, no one's found anything new," Shio began which was followed by a few disgruntled mutters and sly remarks tossed about by her classmates. But she clapped her hands again to bring attention back to herself. "That's fine, that's fine, we're still trying so that's what matters."

There was a loud groan and she turned to look at Goro. "Some are trying harder than others, but not like that matters," he responded, his eyes on Mitsuru.

The figure skater let out an offended gasp, "What are you insinuating?" she demanded.

"Exactly what it sounds like."

"Mitsuru, everyone is putting in more effort than you are," Kousuke snipped, his eyes narrowed at her, "last I checked, all you've been doing since we got here was eat in the dining room and complain. I don't think you have a right to be insulted when someone calls you out on it."

"I would have thought that as someone from such a rich and fancy home as yours that you'd know; some people are meant to work while others are meant to sit back while others do the work for them," Mitsuru retorted, crossing her arms over her chest, "Obviously I was not born into this world to do menial labor and hard work like the rest of these bums. But I guess your upbringing wasn't nearly as proper if you'd let yourself fall to there level."

"Of maybe I'd like to get out of here more than I'd like to hang onto egotistical pride like a certain pretentious brat."

"Why you," Mitsuru curled back a lip, "I have half a mind to slap you right now."

Taiyou began laughing as he leaned forward to watch, "Oooh~! Are we gonna get to see some rich brats duke it out?" he asked loudly, a wide grin slapped across his face, "Ten monocoins on Mitsuru-chan!"

"Please! Q-tip can take her, hands down," Hikaru shot back, "Twenty that he wins !"

"Excuse me? Who are you calling a q-tip?" Kousuke snapped, almost rising from his seat, his attention moved from Mitsuru to Hikaru. A few snickers and cackles turned into laughter from multiple people and the arguing started to spread.

So the whole everyone being friends was clearly still in the works.

Trying to dissolve the situation quickly and get things back on track, Shio raised her voice, "Guys? Guys!" she yelled over the bickering, they gradually quieted back down to look at her. "Please guys, we're friends here, we don't need to be arguing when we need to stick together, right? How do you expect us to take on Monokuma if we start arguing so easily?"

A few of the students murmured but no one really spoke up, all looking at the ground or away from Shio, some bitter and others guilty.

Trying to raise the mood, Shio smiled at them all again. "Even though it's not going to help us find an exit out of here, I was thinking we could do more things as a group than just the daily meeting," she said, fanning her fingers out and tapping them against each other. "Just something to help us grow closer, help keep a unity among the groups." It was vital to forge a strong bond with everyone, strong enough that no matter what Monokuma might throw their way, it won't cause them to betray one another.

"Eh?" Taiyou asked, raising a brow, "What sort of activities did you have in mind, my dear Shio-chan? Don't tell me you want us to scrapbook together, or sit around a campfire singing songs, I don't know if I could handle that much friendship!"

"Hey, come on the campfire sounds pretty fun if we throw in some smores," Ren snickered harmlessly, sticking his tongue out a little so that the metal stud at the tip peeked out past his teeth.

So maybe she shouldn't bring up that digging up a pit for a campfire and spend some time at night together was one of her ideas. Didn't seem like the group was going to take that one seriously right now so she'd push it off to a later date.

"I don't know about that, but, we do have a lot of space outside," Shio said as she began thinking, "we could find some kind of game to play. The gym has lots of sports equipment in there, so we could find something that would let everyone play in there."

Tsubasa raised her hand after Shio said that, "There's a lot of baseball gloves and balls in the gym closet, as well as plenty of baseballs and a few bats. There's also some flags if we want to play capture the flag, and a few footballs, as well as the American ones," she said and then scratched her cheek, "though I don't know the rules to that one."

"That's fine," Shio grinned as she looked at the athlete, "I shouldn't be, but I'm surprised you remember everything that's in there." Tsubasa blushed when she said that and Shio took that as a cue to turn to the others again, "Even if we don't want to get dirty playing a sport, between the school store and the warehouse, I'm sure there's plenty we can do together."

Hayato gave a small laugh from his end of the bench, "You sure are intent on keeping us as a united group, aren't you, Uehara-san?" it was less of a question and he had a smile as he said it, but it looked tired.

She didn't falter and with a feeling of determination in her gut, Shio nodded her head. "Of course I am, Himura-kun. You guys are all my friends, so I'm going to do everything I can to keep us all alive," the words were genuine. Even though she only knew the group for a few days, she cared about them like she knew them for longer. They were her friends, even if they didn't feel the same, and she wanted to keep her friends safe.

What was so wrong about that?

But as soon as she finished speaking, someone began gagging from behind her, a fake retching noise in response to her desire for all to survive. "Uuuugh! How boring!"

She felt a chill run over her, and beside her she saw Daichi go pale in the face at the familiar, overly cheerful voice. He wasn't the only one, others had gone pale, while some went red in the face from anger, heads swiveling to stare at the intruder.

With a walk that was more of a waddle, Monokuma marched around until he was right in front of the group, staring at them with his mismatched eyes and ever present grin. "All this talk of unity, bonds, friends and sticking together, ooooh! I can feel my stomach churning. You're going to make me sick at this rate!"

"Why should we care about your health?" Takahiko asked dryly, eyes narrowed at the robot. "You don't seem too concerned with our wellbeing, so why should we be with yours?"

"Yeowch, you cut me with those harsh words," the bear complained, an air of gloom surrounding him, but it was gone as quick as it appeared. "But that's not what I'm here for, not at all! My health can wait because I'm sure that your talk of friendship and teamwork will be ending soon!"

Shio stood up, hands on her hips in a defiant stance as she stared down at the bear, "You're wrong, we're not going to stop working together just because you want it," she said firmly. She was the leader of this group, she had to make sure she always stood up against Monokuma, here was no different. "Why are you here if it wasn't to complain? If it's to tell us to kill each other, we're still not going to play your twisted game."

But the bear let out a long sigh, "Man you are no fun, no fun at all," he whined. "But you're right. As things are now, there's no way you guys will start the killing game, and that's just so boring. So I had to think long and hard, I skipped sleeping last night just to come up with this idea, you know?"

"What idea?" Kasumi asked from where she sat, playing with the sleeves of her shirt, Shio noted they were becoming increasingly more frayed as her nails picked at the strands.

Monokuma let out a maniacal laugh as he stared at them all good and hard. "I was thinking, and thinking, and thinking, and then it hit me! You guys have the place, the tools, the possible victims, but no reason!" he exclaimed. "Now, I would have thought the Graduation rule would have been reason enough; kill someone to get out of here, but nope! You guys are pickier than that!"

A reason? "Are you talking about a motive or something?" Shio asked, feeling her heart beating louder in her chest. Did he come out all this way to give them something to motivate each other to kill? Whatever he was going to throw at them, it wasn't going to work. They weren't that easy, they were stronger than him and wouldn't fall for the devil's temptation like he wanted them too.

"Oooh, that's exactly what it is," Monokuma sang, "I thought it was about time to give you all a motive!"


	2. The Buzzing of Anxieties

"It's just that it's been a whole _week_!" Monokuma complained as the group of students fell silent around him. His body seemed to hunch over in dismay as he said those words, "A week! Can you believe it? At this rate, you guys are never going to start killing each other, and I can't have that. But, honestly, this has got to be the _slowest_ start I've ever seen!"

The way he said it, the implication that there had been others _before_ them, Shio felt a chill run up her spine.

No one said anything, no one was able to speak as they just stared at him in fear, waiting to see what it was he had in store for them, what kind of twisted, fucked up thing he planned to throw their way to make them betray and hurt each other, shatter the fragile bond they had been nurturing.

As a fear began to settle among the group, Shio felt disgust bubbling deep in her stomach. Her friends were growing restless, anxious, scared and she was doing nothing to calm them, unable to find her own voice.

What kind of leader was she to be struck silent by her own fear at a moment like this?

"And what kind of motive are you planning?" the first one to speak, his voice was even, no hint of tremor or fear. Shio moved to look at Taiyou Adachi, sitting with his arms crossed and looking for all the world like he was the king of this place. He stared Monokuma down, grinning as cheerfully as ever. "Come on, I'm just dying from suspense, and I don't think that's the kind of death that you want for the first murder."

A few others looked his way, some hands shook, but no one really said anything as Monokuma let the fear continue to sink it.

It felt like a century before he responded to Taiyou, bringing his mismatched paws to his face as though to hide his smile. "It's a big one, I'll tell you that," the bear responded just as cheerily as Taiyou had. "Why, the motive is just a simple choice, and it's an important one too!"

He was dragging it out, trying to get them worked up, Shio could tell, and she could tell that it was working, too.

"Just spit it out, already!" Hikaru snarled, her shaking hand hidden behind balled fists, "If you're not going to tell us what you're going to force us to do this time, I'll beat it out of you," it didn't feel like a hollow threat as she moved to Monokuma. But, before she could even get close, Kasumi latched onto her arm, face pale, and Takahiko grabbed her tightly from behind.

"Calm down, Yoshii-san," Takahiko said, his voice a low rumble as he kept her firmly held back despite her struggles and squirming.

Kasumi nodded rapidly, "You can't hurt him, if you violate a regulation you'll be the one getting killed," she reminded the racer. "Take deep breaths, Hikaru-chan, you're letting him get to you."

"Puhuhuhu," Monokuma snickered, adding more fuel to the already raging fire that was Hikaru Yoshii. "And here I thought I'd finally get to see some action; I've been so bored that even just punishing a rule violator would have been as satisfying as a class trial. Ah well~ Always next time."

He was fanning the flames, spreading more anxiety and anger through the group. That was the point, that was what he wanted to do. Get the students scared, angry and on edge, make it so they'd be just a little more willing to kill someone before even revealing the motive. The longer he dragged this on, the worse the group was going to get. She understood that and it made her sick to her stomach.

Swallowing the iron lump in her throat, Shio clawed to find her voice and fought to keep it steady. She couldn't show weakness, not in front of her classmates, not in front of her friends who looked to her for leadership.

"Spit it out already, Monokuma," Shio demanded, crossing her arms over her chest and trying to appear strong, imposing, as though she wasn't afraid of what he was about to say. "Tell us what this motive of yours is now, or we'll just leave right now."

It was a hollow threat, she had a feeling that if the group dispersed and Monokuma told them all one-on-one, it'd make things worse.

The bear laughed again, that incessant, annoying, horrible laugh that filled her with dread. His eyes were locked onto her and it took all of Shio's willpower to not back down or flinch. A few of her classmates murmured around her, Daichi reached out and tried to take her hand but hesitated and drew his hand back to his chest, gripping the red neckerchief scarf of his instead.

"Like I said," Monokuma began slowly, "Your motive is a choice. Either one of you kills another, or~" he drew out the or for a long bit, his voice a singsong tone as he began waddling around them, waving a hand and doing a few turns as though this was all just a fun, childish game. He didn't stop until he was directly in front of Shio, only a foot of space between them and staring up at her.

"Or, I kill all of you."

Chaos broke out at those words. Everyone speaking over the other, demanding answers, explanations, a few tried to lunge at Monokuma but were stopped by a thin layer of self-control. Their words were just meshing with one another that they didn't even sound like words anymore. The fear had spread like a wildfire.

Monokuma was in a full blown laughter at that, a loud, raucous laughter at the terror in the group. "You have three days. If no's been killed by the time the nighttime announcement goes off on the third day, then I blow this entire campus to smithereens! You all included, of course. Kill someone or everyone dies, why it's such a good motive I should use it again sometime."

With that, he was gone, leaving the group in distress.

It was an uncontrollable mess. People yelling to be heard, yelling at each other, screaming. An unbridled panic knowing the point of the motive. Sacrifice two people, a killer and a victim, or all sixteen die.

Shio stared at her shaking hands. His words sinking in.

"That's messed up! There's no way he's really going to do that, right?" Ren asked, looking around at the others with a pale face. "Kill us all? That's, that's insane!"

"How's it insane?" Mitsuru challenged, "he wants us to kill each other, what better motivator is there than the threat of being killed if you don't?"

Goro drew a hand to his face, brushing aside some of his long locks, "God damn that bear is fucked up," he growled, "this whole situation is fucked up beyond fucked up! How's he even going to do that? Blow us up? With what bombs?"

Eisuke frowned as she thought it over, "is it really impossible?" she asked, leaning forward in her seat. "He's a highly advanced bear that appears out of seemingly nowhere. Obviously he's not just teleporting, the likeliest possibility is that there are a number of copies stored away in some hidden hatch in various parts of the campus. What's to say he doesn't have high powered explosives in those hatches, or that the bear himself doesn't possess a powerful bomb in him? Just because we can't see the bombs doesn't mean he doesn't have them hidden around this prison."

Izumi shook her head, twiddling with her fingers a bit, "But, come on, there's no way he'd do that, right?"

Finally overcoming her own fear of the situation, Shio turned to face the group, still standing before them all and putting on as brave a face as she could. "He's bluffing," she said certainly, crossing her arms over her chest. "Monokuma is just bluffing to scare us into starting the killing game, we can't fall for it."

Taiyou leaned back, looking up at her unimpressed. "Bluffing? And what makes you think that?"

"Because it'd be pointless," she answered and glanced to one of the cameras situated to monitor them. "Monokuma wants a game, the people controlling him brought us here for a twisted game of life and death, they want us to kill each other over and over again. If we all died at once, it wouldn't be fun for him. It'd take away the excitement of the game; it'd end it too soon. All the effort they put into kidnapping us, into making this prison and setting this whole situation up would go to waste if they bomb the campus."

"She has a point," Kousuke said slowly, "this would have taken an insane amount of finances and time to prepare and structure. Obviously it would have taken a small fortune just to construct this campus, but the creation on Monokuma would have required extensive funds and research. Then the work into choosing who to abduct and the abduction itself… you wouldn't want to throw it all away like that."

"That's assuming that the ones behind this are sane at all," Taiyou pointed out. "For all we know the ones running this show are insane enough to be okay with destroying something that took so much effort."

Taiyou had a good point. It was highly likely that the person keeping them here was beyond insane, and if they were what Shio feared they were, then the idea of destroying this all, destroying all this hard work that could have taken months or years to prepare… they would love the feeling it'd bring them.

She hoped that wasn't the case. She hoped all her fears were for naught, that this wasn't the kind of killing game that she dreaded. That the ones behind it weren't trying for what she feared.

"I think," Shio began, bringing her hands together, "that we just need some time to think. It'll do us no time to just freak out, we're just letting our fears and paranoia get the best of us like this. Let's just take some time to relax, clear our heads so we don't do anything reckless that we'll regret. We can talk more about this during dinner. Does that sound like a plan?"

"Yeah," Kasumi mumbled, her voice a tremble, "I think we all need some space right now."

A few others voiced their agreement and Shio saw mistrust in their eyes as they looked at each other, as though expecting the other to try and kill someone before they had a chance to sort all of this out. Slowly the others started getting up and walking away from the bench, dispersing through the campus.

Before long all that was left at the benches was Izumi, Daichi and Shio herself.

With most of the others gone, Shio let herself let out the long breath she'd been holding, taking a seat at the stone bench as her body sank, hunching over like a deflated balloon as she supported her head in her hands, feeling her body tremble, shaking like she was at the epicenter of an earthquake.

Daichi reached out, placing his hand on her shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze.

"I think you held your own really well, Uehara-san," he offered with a small smile. "You stood against Monokuma like that and held your own, that was really amazing."

Izumi crawled over the bench and then latched onto Shio as well. "You were like, super cool, Shio-chan," she agreed, resting her chin on Shio's shoulder. "I swear, when you stood up and stared down that stupid bear like you did, I just started swooning; like take me here and now, Shio-chan, our dear knight in shining armor!"

Daichi's face went red and he let out an awkward cough when Izumi said that, and though Shio felt a blush on her own face from embarrassment, she gave a small smile towards her friend. "Thank you, Hayasha-san, and you too, Akemi-kun. I'm glad that I seemed more confident than I felt."

"You always look confident; you don't need to worry!" Daichi quickly said, looking at her firmly, "I'm sure everyone's going to take your words to heart. Like you said, this has to be a bluff, there's no way Monokuma is going to blow up the campus and everything on it. The others just need some time to sort their thoughts, but I'm confident that they won't cave and kill someone."

Shio hoped he was right. The thought of losing one of her friends wasn't one she could stand.

"Well if the lovely Shio-chan says its so, then there's no room for doubt, right Daichi-kun?" Izumi added with a smile before disengaging herself from Shio. "But just to be safe, I'm going to try and see if I can find any of these explosives. If there are any hidden around; if we can find and deactivate them then we'd be safe, right?"

Shio turned to look at the girl, Izumi's green eyes were sparkling with determination as she stared at her, "That's a good idea, Hayasha-san. And I doubt there's anyone among us better at finding things than you," she _was_ a professional thief, after all. If there was someone who could locate an item and take it without Monokuma noticing, Shio would bet all her chips on it being Izumi.

And if there were bombs, if they deactivated them before the time limit went off, then they wouldn't have to worry.

"I'll leave that task to you, Hayasha-san. If you need any help with it, just let me know and I'll be happy to help," Shio said. They had some plan now, something to do to solve this problem, it was more than Shio could have asked.

Izumi smiled and leaned in close again, puckering her lips, "Well~ If you're offering then I could really use a good-luck kiss to help me find all those bombs, what do you say?" she asked in a sweet voice.

From beside her, she could feel Daichi trying to subtly tug her away from Izumi, his hands hot to the touch and his face no doubt red at the idea that Izumi was not-so-subtly saying. But Shio couldn't help but laugh at Izumi's antics. Honestly, all the girls in their group had dealt with this at least a few times from Izumi in the week they've been here.

"Well, this is as much as I can give you," Shio said warmly as she leaned over to kiss Izumi on the forehead. "Can't give you a kiss on the lips, though, I'd like to save that for someone I love."

But the thief reeled back when the kiss was over, a hand to her forehead and stars in her eyes. "This is even more than I had hoped! Now I'm all pumped up!" she said, shooting to her feet and throwing a fist into the air. "You can count on me, Shio-chan, if Monokuma has any kind of explosive hidden around, then you can bet I'll find it."

"Do you even know how to deactivate them?" Daichi asked meekly from beside Shio, still hanging onto her arm like he was afraid to let go, "I know I don't really know much about your skillset, but, disarming bombs isn't really a skill for a thief, right?"

But Izumi reached over and poked him on the nose. "Oh, Daichi-kun, ye of little faith. You'd be surprised at how long a list of skills I have. Maybe dealing with bombs is one of them, maybe it isn't," she sang with a smile, "we'll just have to wait and see, now won't we?"

Daichi looked like he wanted to say more, but was silenced by Izumi moving to give him a kiss on the head followed by a long hug for Shio. "Well, I'm off. Wish me luck, my dearest two! I'll catch up with you during dinner with a report of my progress."

They watched as she took off jogging and when she was out of earshot, Daichi let out a long sigh.

"She is… a handful," he mumbled, finally letting go of Shio to pick at his red scarf, using it to cover the red tint of his cheeks. "I mean, she's a good person, but she has so much energy and… how can you girls handle her antics so often and easily when I'm a mess with just a little kiss?"

Shio had no answer for that and just patted him on the shoulder with a smile. "Hayasha-san is just being herself, I'm honestly glad she's able to stay the same even with what's going on," she admitted and looked up at the sky, deciding to change the subject. "I think I'm going to let the others have some space, and then check up on each of them in a little bit. Do you want to join me or would you like some space for yourself, too?"

He didn't even waste a moment to answer, "Of course I'm going with you. If something happened to you because you went off on your own, I don't know if I," he cut himself off and shook his head. "I'd just feel better if I was with you and knew you'd be okay. Everyone's on edge, someone might try something because of Monokuma."

Shio smiled, her friend really did have a good heart. "Thank you, Akemi-kun. I'm sure with you by my side, I'll be perfectly safe."

Honestly, Daichi Akemi was a good and pure soul, so honest and earnest. How did someone as sweet and kind as him get dragged into something as dark and twisted as this? He deserved better, he truly did.

But what people got wasn't up to Shio, she didn't have any say in it. All she could do was do what she could to keep him and the others safe and hope for the best.

And pray. Pray that no one fell for Monokumas motive.

* * *

 **Authors Note**

Izumi is the SHSL Steals Your Girl.

Anyways; this and the previous chapter are more of a build-up. With the next chapter, we'll be going in depth with the other characters, getting to know who they are while they react to this motive. But, moving on. Thank you to everyone who's read this so far.


	3. All The Little Talks

**Authors Note:** Kudos to everyone who caught on the V3 reference that the motive is. Sorry this chapter didn't come out sooner, didn't have much time to actually write it thanks to work, and it is a bit longer than the chapters usually are. As usual, I hope you enjoy.

Also, alternate title for this chapter: Reference City

* * *

Shio waited a few minutes, and a few minutes turned into several before eventually an entire hour passed since the revelation of the motive and since the group had dispersed through the campus.

She had spent that time just sitting with and chatting with Daichi. There wasn't much they could talk about in terms of their past, at least for Daichi when his memory was still as skewered as it was, but he did have one story he remembered with clarity where he and his childhood friend snuck into some private property to go bug hunting and ended with the two being chased by the angry owner.

The sun was still up and the clocks on the wall of the dorms read that it was a little past four-thirty in the afternoon when they finished talking. Though, Shio wasn't sure just how much she could trust the clocks to be accurate, but at the same time it wasn't like they could be off too far. Maybe an hour or two off if anything. The sun was still shining when the clocks said it was day and the stars were out when the clocks said it was night, and her stomach growled when it said it was mealtime.

"Ready to check on the others?" she asked as she stood up and raised her arms above her head to stretch. "Hopefully they've all had enough time to calm down, and if not we can reassure them when we see them."

Daichi smiled softly, not looking her in the eyes as he scratched the back of his head. "I'm sure that if it's you talking to them, they'll calm down if they're still upset or anxious over what Monokuma said," he said. "I mean, it's hard to be upset when you're around."

"You're a flatterer, Akemi-kun," Shio laughed as she gave him a pat on the shoulder. "Come on, let's go."

She started marching forward with a smile on her face and Daichi following at her side. She already had an idea of where some of the others would be lurking, so it would be quickest to check those spots out first. Of course they could be in their own dorm rooms, but Shio hadn't seen anyone go by her as she and Daichi hung out outside of the rooms.

The first spot she chose was actually right behind the dorms. Over the past six days she'd seen Hikaru hanging around at the back more than a few times, so she figured it was safe to say that was her usual hangout spot. Usually she had Kasumi with her, so Shio wouldn't put it past them to both be behind the dorms today.

And, as she slipped out the dorms doors and walked around the building to the back, she was greeted with the familiar sight of a teenager wearing a dark blue track suit and another in a simple white long sleeve button up and a beige sweater vest over it and a skirt. The two girls were talking avidly as they leaned against the wall of the dorm.

They didn't seem to notice Shio or Daichi coming into view and approaching them, too engrossed in their conversation with each other.

"This sucks, I swear I'm gonna die in here!" Hikaru groaned as she slouched, propped up by the wall and running her hands through her red hair. "Kasumi, you gotta appease my spirit after I die, okay? Salt my grave so I don't come back a wretched ghost."

"Hikaru… you're not going to die," Kasumi mumbled.

Shio tilted her head as she reached them, "Why do you think you're going to die?" she asked. Did Hikaru think someone was going to kill her? No, the way she was saying it, it didn't sound like she was scared she was going to get murdered, but, whenever someone brought up dying, especially in this prison of theirs, Shio couldn't help but get a little nervous.

But the racer raised her head to look at the two who had arrived, "Huh? Oh, hey Uehara-san, Akemi-san," she greeted and scratched the back of her head. "it's just, it's so cramped in here, don't you think so? We're walled off, caged up, and I can't even get a good rush when in here. I'm going to die from adrenaline withdrawal!"

Oh, was Hikaru an adrenaline junkie? Well, Shio figured it did make some sense, she _was_ a racer, and an Ultimate one at that. It wouldn't be strange if she loved the adrenaline rush that came along with her talent.

"Well, can't you just run along the wall? Wouldn't that give you a rush?" Daichi asked her.

But to his question, Hikaru looked at him and shook her head, "that wouldn't work at all. If I'm just running on my own then it'd be boring, and there isn't really anyone here who can keep up with me in a full blown race, on foot or otherwise," she grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I suggested asking Takahiko-kun or Tsubasa-chan, they _are_ athletes after all," Kasumi offered, "But they both declined when we asked."

Oh, well that sucked. Those two would have been the best choices to have a run with Hikaru out of everyone here.

Shio could kind of understand where Hikaru was coming from. She was a racer after all, not having any sort of race going on must have been like a slow torture for her. Shio could relate, her fingers itched and twitched from not being able to hold, let alone play a violin in a week.

"I guess you really like racing against others, huh?"

"Of course," Hikaru said, nodding her head furiously, "I don't even care about if I win or lose, the fun is in giving your all, the rush of trying your hardest against another person. That's what's fun about it."

Shio smiled and placed a hand on Daichi's back, "In that case," she gave a shove and Daichi stumbled forward towards Hikaru. "Why not have a race with Akemi-kun? He may not look it, but he's actually pretty quick when he wants to be."

The racer looked him up and down with an arched brow, "You're not pulling my leg? You really are a good runner?"

Straightening himself out, Daichi let out an awkward cough, "Well, I guess? I don't know if I'm as fast as you, but, I think I was on a track team in middle school and high school."

Hikaru didn't comment on the 'I think' part of his statement, she smiled and slapped him on the back. "Good enough for me. Come on, we'll race around the campus wall," she grabbed him by the wrist and started walking, though it was something more between a walk and a jog, "follow me!"

"Hey, wait, I never said I was going to race you!" Daichi argued, but it was futile as he was dragged off.

Shio watched with a smile and from beside her Kasumi hid a small giggle behind her hand.

"Hopefully he can hold his own against her," Shio commented as she leaned against the wall. "I kind of threw Akemi-kun under the bus there, but I figured it'd help Yoshii-chan to get some of this out of her system."

Kasumi smiled up at her and it was almost like the sun was staring at Shio, "Don't worry," she assured her and looked back forward, watching as Hikaru finally got Daichi, who had given up on struggling, to the wall and looked to be getting into a starting position for the run. "She'll probably go easy on him if he's not fast enough."

"But wouldn't that go against the whole 'giving it her all' thing?" Shio asked as the two took off.

"It does, but I think Hikaru wouldn't mind so long as they both have fun."

Shio gave a hum and then turned to look back at Kasumi, "So… do you think you could tell me a little about yourself?" she asked and then gave a sheepish laugh, "I realized that I never really got to learn too much about you when we did our introductions on day one. I know you're a dancer and probably super elegant, too. But I don't know too much about you."

"Elegant? I don't know if I'd go that far…" Kasumi blushed a little and looked away, pushing some brown locks behind her ear. "There's not really a whole lot I can say. I'm probably a little bland in comparison to the others."

"Nonsense!" Shio shook her head. "You're super interesting already, whatever you have to say won't change that," she said and smiled, "So, how about this, what are some things you like? Outside of ballroom dance, of course."

"What kind of things I like…?" Kasumi answered and tapped a finger to her chin in thought. "Well… it's kind of embarrassing, but I like MMORPG games," she didn't look up at Shio as she said that, her ears turning pink. "I know it's silly."

"Silly? No way!" Shio leaned forward, "I never would have thought you'd be into those games, but that's super cool! Do you only play one specifically? Or do you have a whole bunch of different ones you play?"

Honestly, Shio had never played too many of those games. The only one she'd ever played had been an old one that had been fun for a little while but got tedious and stressful after a bit. The chat was always moving too fast for her to make sense of what was going on, most of the good gear or quests required her to pay to gain access. The game always lagged like crazy when she was in the cities and it ended up becoming boring.

Not to mention most of her time had already been devoted to the violin, which she had so much more enjoyment in than the game. But, she also understood that different people had different interests. She wasn't about to shame Kasumi for liking something she never could really get into. Besides, it was nice to learn something new like this about the dancer.

Kasumi offered an embarrassed smile, "Well, I'd usually only really play one at a time. Dancing took up much of my time so I'd only get an hour or two in a day unless I had a contest coming up, then I'd have no time at all to play," she explained. "But this one I'd been really into recently was called Ysmir."

"Ysmir?" Shio repeated with a tilt of her head. She couldn't really say the name sounded familiar. "What's the game like?"

But the dancer looked away, "I'll probably make it sound boring if I explain it," she said, "I've been told I tend to ramble when I start talking, I don't want to annoy you or anything."

"Come on, there's no way you can annoy me," Shio assured her with a smile and pat on the shoulder, "Besides, if it's a game you play, then of course I'd like to know more about it. It's bound to be loads of fun, after all. It's impossible for you to make it sound boring."

Kasumi didn't look entirely convinced but she nodded and swallowed a little before finally answering. "Well, it's a game that takes place in four different kingdoms. Though technically only one was an actual kingdom. What you choose for your character, such as race and class in the beginning of the game decides what land you start on," she began, and at least she gave Shio a heads up about the rambling part.

"There's Aykor, which is where human warriors and mages spawn, it's a small kingdom where players can create mage guilds, join the Templar order or become a Kings knight. It's an Old-English styled layout. Then there's the Northern Barrens, super cold and unless your character has the right gear equipped or a Frost Resistant perk, they'll be getting damaged just by being outside. Snow elves and a race of humans known as the northern children spawn there, they are immune to cold and have powerful ice magic. They also worship the Great Frost, which is actually a dragon and characters from that land can summon the Will of the Frost to fight with them if they're a high enough level, which summons an ice version of the dragon,"Kasumi said, her hands were moving in gestures that Shio couldn't really understand, but she was smiling so much wider than the violinist thought she'd ever seen the woman smile before.

"There's also this southern land called the Seven Cities which is where people who choose orcs, barbarians or rogues spawn," Kasumi continued, "It's a desert like land with a few grassy lands where cities tend to be built at, the cities are full of thieves and crime and a lot of illegal guilds you can join. Also there's a land called the Tir Na Nog, the Fairy Kingdom where fairies, elves and dwarves spawn, full of magic and beauty. It's lustrous forests and magical creatures everywhere, and you can't enter unless you're one of their native characters, are in a party with one, or has gained the favor of Titania or Oberon. There's a whole lot of quests you can do, different type of gear, you can even marry other players and share an inventory."

She spoke so fast. It felt like Shio had just listened to the audio version of a small wall of text. Most of this stuff was going over her head, as much as she didn't want to admit it, and it just sounded confusing. Too much to take in at once.

But Kasumi was certainly passionate as she talked about it, smiling wide and her cheeks were even a slight flushed color. Just listening to how excited and happy Kasumi was about talking about this Ysmir game actually made Shio a bit more interested in this game of hers than she would have otherwise. It was certainly worth checking out, that was for sure.

"So, then what kind of character did you have?" she asked, when the girl had finished, hoping she could retain enough of the info dump to make sense of however Kasumi answered.

She smiled happily, "I played a fairy, so I had a flight perk and magic," was Kasumi's answer. "I joined a guild on Aykor with a few other players, we weren't anything special and were kind of small, but we had fun together."

"It sounds like it," Shio responded, "With how much you're hyping it up, I might have to try it when we get out of here."

She practically had stars in her eyes when Shio said that and nodded her head, "Yes, please, do! You'll love it," Kasumi said, "I'm trying to get Hikaru to agree to play it when we get out, it'll be fun if you do too. I can even show you the ropes when you start out and help you out!"

"Well, I can't say it won't be nice having someone show me how things are done," she agreed with a grin, "You'll have to give me your contact info so we can stay in touch after this, I can't imagine we're all from the same city after all." And it'd be nice to keep contact with everyone once they got out of here.

Kasumi giggled a little, hiding it behind her hand.

Honestly, Kasumi was such a bright and happy girl, Shio was quite glad to have a ray of sunshine like her in this dreary place. She may be a bit shy and quiet at times, but Kasumi had a special charm about her that made it hard not to smile when talking to her. And, when she started getting passionate about that game, it really was impossible not to want to join in.

"So… Shio-chan, can I ask you something?" Kasumi asked and her smile was gone. She was looking down, playing with her fingers, like she couldn't meet Shio's eyes or something.

But Shio kept smiling, if for nothing more than to offer her friend some comfort. "Sure, go ahead."

Kasumi swallowed and her shoulders shook a little. "It's… it's about the motive," she admitted and even though Shio knew that they were going to talk about it—it _was_ a murder motive and their lives being threatened after all—she couldn't help but feel a bit of unease at the mention of it. But she kept smiling for Kasumi. "Do you… please be honest with me Shio-chan, do you really think that it's a bluff? Or are we really all going to die if we don't kill a person?"

At her question, Shio took in a deep breath and tilted her head to look up at the sky as she collected her thoughts. It was still as blue as ever, clouds drifting aimlessly by, birds flying above, unaware or uncaring of their current plight. She closed her eyes and after a moment, opened them again.

"Of course it is," she answered, her voice steady and eyes holding certainty. "I don't believe that Monokuma would try to kill us all off like that. But, if it helps you at all, I do have a plan being executed in case I'm wrong."

"You do?" Kasumi asked, looking at her with wonder.

Shio smiled and patted her friend on the shoulder, "I do, I can't tell you anything right now, but it'll probably come up when the group meets up for dinner," she explained. She didn't want to tell her about Izumi looking for bombs, not right now. Shio wanted to wait until she met up with the thief later to see how progress went before explaining everything to the others. "But, I can tell you that you don't have to worry your pretty little head none. I promise that I'll keep you and the others safe, okay?"

She kept staring at Shio for a long time before she nodded, her smile returning and her hand reaching out to grasp Shio's own. "Thank you for doing this, Shio-chan," Kasumi murmured, her voice quiet and weak. "For taking charge like this. I don't… I don't know if we'd have been able to last as a group this long if you hadn't been here."

Now it was time for Shio to go red as she looked away, scratching at the back of her head with her free hand and giving an awkward laugh. "Well, I don't think that's entirely true, you guys would have been fine without me. There are lots of other competent people in the group who could have taken this role, after all."

Kasumi smiled and let go of Shio's hand. "I'll have to disagree with that, but I won't push it," she said and looked away, "I think I see Hikaru and Daichi-kun coming back. If it's okay with you, we can pick up our conversation another time."

Sure enough, Shio could see the two making their return in the distance. Hikaru seemed to be running a bit slower to match the pace with Daichi who, by the looks of it, was completely worn out. Shio almost laughed at the sight of it.

"I'll come visit you again, I'd love to hear more about that game of yours," she said as she went to meet up with the racers.

After checking on Daichi to make sure he was going to live, and giving him a few minutes to catch his breath and to step into his room to change into clothes that weren't drenched in sweat, the two went off to try and find some of the other students to see how they were doing.

She expected to see Tsubasa or Eisuke in the gym, but neither were there, much to her surprise. They did pass Goro as they walked down the hall connecting the gym to the rest of the university center. But he didn't really want to stick around and chat, claiming he just wanted to get on to the library down the stairs, so Shio didn't press her luck and make him stay and talk.

The others were probably hanging out in the library or in one of the few rooms on this floor or downstairs. She'd spent quite a bit of time chatting with Kasumi, too, and Daichi had burned himself out during the run with Hikaru that they agreed to go to the dining room next.

"What did you two talk about, anyway?" Daichi asked as they walked, trying to hide the slight limp that came with his sore legs. "I mean, I didn't get to talk much with Yoshii-san while we were racing, but I figure you were chatting with Sasaki-san while we were out there."

Shio smiled as she brought her arms to rest behind her head, "What were we talking about? Hmm… well, mostly about games, actually," she admitted. "Sasaki-chan was telling me about this fun online game she plays, gave me something to look forward to trying once we got out of here."

"Sasaki-san is into gaming?" Daichi raised a brow and shook his head as they maneuvered around a chair that hadn't been pushed back in from one of the tables in the hall. "I really wouldn't have thought of that."

But Shio gave a small laugh, "We girls are full of surprises, Akemi-kun," she added a wink in his direction and giggled again as her friend went red and looked away.

They pushed the doors to the dining area open and saw a small group had already situated itself in there. At one table was Takahiko, Yuu and Ren. Aito was sitting alone at a table near them, close to the group but separate from them as always.

And as usual, he gave barely more than a grunt and nod in Shio's direction when she said hello as she walked by him, too preoccupied with the butter knife he was playing with. She made a mental note to try and get some one-on-one time with him, just to make sure he was okay, that there was nothing wrong.

But taking a seat next to Ren at the other table, Shio smiled at the group.

"Hey guys, what are you talking about?" she asked innocently as the three quieted down and offered a few hellos in her and Daichi's direction

Ren yawned as Daichi slipped in next to Shio. "We're just chatting about movies and stuff. Did you ever get to see Battle Royale?" he asked them. Both Shio and Daichi shook their heads. "2000's movie. We thought that the situation we're in kind of reminded us of the plot of the movie. Bunch of high schoolers isolated from the rest of the world by a group and forced to kill each other."

"I don't think there were class trials and talking robotic bears like Monokuma in the movie, though," Takahiko pointed out in that low rumble of a voice of his. "But, the similarity is unsettling. I probably won't be watching that movie again any time soon after we get out of here."

Yuu shuddered, "To be fair, that movie was never one I was really into, and now I'm into it even less," she muttered and slumped against the table. "But, it might not be too terrible of an idea to use this as an idea for a script. After some therapy of course. But I could make a TV show out of this."

"Well, if you need an actor to play the devilishly charming red haired protagonist," Ren began as he flicked a few strands of hair out of his face, "You know where to find me."

At his suggestion, Shio made a face of disgust and Ren's cool façade broke as he slapped his hands against the table. "Hey! What's that face supposed to mean? It's only fair that if you make this into a movie or show that _I_ get to play _me_!"

Takahiko laughed a little at the exchange but didn't really make any comment as the two bickered. Shio was the one who broke the lighthearted argument with a curious question for them.

"That's right, movies and TV are basically your and Taikiyo-kuns thing, isn't it?" Shio asked, leaning against the table some to look at the two. Ren was an actor, she'd actually seen him on a few shows and movies before coming here, and Yuu wrote scripts for them. It wasn't any surprise the two of them would hang together or talk movies with each other.

Ren laughed and rubbed the back of his head. "I don't know if it's our 'thing', but… yeah. That's kind of the industry the two of us are in," he admitted. "Though I prefer stage plays than the big screen if I'm being honest."

Oh? So he preferred stuff like plays and musicals over TV shows and movies? That was pretty interesting, not what she would have expected from him.

"What would you guys say was your favorite project to work on?" Shio asked with a smile.

The two looked at each other and began thinking hard. From the corner of her eye she even saw Aito perk up and tilt his head over in their direction as though to listen for their answers. Boy, he could be a bit of a tsundere at times, but at least he seemed to want to be part of the group. Hopefully she could get him comfortable enough to join the fully integrate himself in the group one of these days.

"I'd have to say… there was this one TV series, a courtroom drama-comedy kind of thing called Attorney at Law," Ren began after tapping his chin a few times. "I don't know if you saw it before. It's about this one defense attorney who doubles as an investigator to prove his client innocent and bluffs most of the time through his cases and has a young spirit medium with no law experience other than being accused of murder at least once per season as his assistant."

"Yeah, I've heard of it, still going on strong after… what? Six seasons and a two-season spin-off focusing on his season one rival?" Daichi nodded his head. "Used to be one of my favorites. I kind of wanted to see his assistant and the season two prosecutor get together when I was still a big fan," he added with a laugh.

Ren grinned and nodded his head, "Oh, the ships people have for that show is amazing," he agreed. "But that was probably my favorite to be on. I played the role of one of the witnesses for one of the case arcs in season three. It was pretty fun meeting all the actors there for the few episodes I worked on."

"I think I helped write an episode for one of the season five cases," Yuu mused as she spoke up, "Or maybe it was season four? It was one of the seasons where they started bringing in all these new mechanics to the show."

"Yeah, I never really liked it after they added that stuff. I mean I could get behind the spirit medium thing. But listening to people's hearts?" Daichi made a face. "Don't get me wrong, I loved the character, she was awesome, but her whole ability just kind of felt like they were trying to push the envelope a bit too far."

Laughing, Ren shook his head, "Don't forget, this is a show that already lets the prosecutors whip, attack with hawks and God knows what else to the defense team and witnesses if they don't do what they want. Not to mention the judge makes the defense team uncover who the real killer is even after proving why their client couldn't have committed the murder."

"I don't think any of that would have worked in a real courtroom," Daichi laughed.

The table joined in his laughter for a little bit and when they calmed down, Shio, still a bit rosy cheeked, turned to Yuu. "What about you? What's the favorite thing you've worked on in the past?"

She looked up at Shio, picking at the sleeves of her oversized sweater. "Well, it's kind of embarrassing," she admitted. "But, my favorite show I've gotten to work on is Sugar Life. I was actually the head scriptwriter for the show and I loved every second I worked on it."

Ren cocked his head to the side, "Sugar Life? Is that some kind of sweet, romantic drama show?" He asked her. "I can totally see you writing scripts for those sappy romances. Like you'd be my pick to write the script for a live action version of So Lingers the Ocean."

"Sugar Life's a psychological thriller and drama filled to the brim with a _lot_ of triggering and dark content," heads turned as Aito spoke, his body turned in his chair to face them as he stared at the group- no, he wasn't staring at them, his eyes were locked onto Yuu as he spoke.

"It's a show that slips seamlessly between dark and cute. It's a yandere type of story, except the relationship isn't founded by the character kidnapping and holding her lover hostage, but rather, she becomes a yandere as a result of external forces trying to tear apart this happy life she's developed with the one she fell in love with. So she murders anyone who tries to hurt her lover, blackmails and threatens anyone who poses a threat to this wonderful castle she's built. It was a pretty controversial show from a few years ago because of the content it showed."

Daichi let out a little cough, "I guess… you must be a big fan of that show?"

The response he got was a small shrug, "It's one of my favorites. I also find it ironic that the yandere character is one of the most mentally sane ones, with exception to her lover, of course. But I still think even she's a little messed up in the head herself to go along with this so eagerly and happily."

Yuu blushed and looked away, "I, thanks. I'm glad to know it's your favorite. Like you said, it has a lot of triggering content so I can understand that most people wouldn't like it."

"I mean, I already figured that Shigaraki-san here was into the trigger-happy shit, but, man. I would not have pegged you for being into dark stuff, Kobayashi-chan," Ren said with a laugh. "I feel like I'm learning so much about you now. Maybe you and Shigaraki-san can bond over your dark show."

She didn't say anything, her blush growing deeper as she looked at her lap in embarrassment.

Takahiko shook his head and leaned farther back into his seat. "She's sweet and all, but Kobayashi isn't some innocent snowflake," he commented, and Yuu reached out to try and silence him but he held her back with one hand, a small smile playing his lips. "She's always had some interesting interests. I mean you should read some of the fanfiction she's written. The stuff is dark. Kidnapping, psychological torture, physical torture, the list goes on."

"Takahiko!"

Once again the group started laughing at her dismay and Takahiko's unapologetic 'just saying it as it is.'. When they finally calmed down again, Daich smiled and nodded towards the two in front of him.

"So, Saikawa-san, Kobayashi-san, sorry if I'm just assuming this and all, but I couldn't help but notice just how close you guys have been since day one," Daichi pointed out. "Did you guys already know each other before we all came here?"

Shio made a small face. He was right, she noted. From the first time the entire group met up, those two had always been beside one another, confiding in one another. It was kind of odd when she thought about it, they would have been strangers who had just met each other, yet they've always acted like they were old friends. Even she and Daichi hadn't clicked _that_ quickly.

But Yuu gave a small laugh and moved to lean against the much taller boy. "Well, guilty as charged. Guess we probably should have said this from the beginning, sorry," she said with a smile, wrapping and arm around Takahiko. "The two of us have been friends since we were little. We grew up in the same orphanage. Takahiko's pretty much my brother."

Takahiko nodded his head in agreement. "I was in the orphanage first, she got brought when we were six, was a crying mess for a good while. She's always been small, even when we were kids she was much smaller than the other kids so she got teased and picked on a lot," he explained to them with a lazy shrug. "I just kind of ended up chasing off the other kids whenever she got picked on, and before long we just always stuck to each other."

"We'd get in trouble so much at the orphanage because we'd always sneak into each other's bed to sleep, which was against the rules."

"Correction," Takahiko cut in, giving her a light slap on the arm and pushing Yuu off of him, " _you'd_ always sneak into my bed because you were scared the shadow monsters were going to eat you while you slept."

"It's not my fault. Toga-chan always said that shadows on the walls were monsters waiting to gobble up kids!" Yuu complained with a pout.

Shio laughed as the two got at it. They really were like siblings. It had to be nice to have someone you cared so much about already to be here with you through this awful time. Or, maybe it just made it worse knowing they were in the same situation as you and their lives were in danger as well.

She didn't have much more time to dwell on it as the others began coming in one after another. It must have been time for the dinner meet up. Their conversation faded away as the table began to fill out with the others. First Eisuke, then Tsubasa. Kasumi and Hikaru came together as usual. Goro stole a chair next to Daichi and plopped himself down next to it. Shio made sure to count each and every one who came in. Kousuke followed Goro and found himself a seat next to Tsubasa. Eleven students.

Taiyou came in with a skip in his step as he sat on one of the nearby tables. Hayato slipped in quietly, she almost missed him. Izumi stepped in quietly with a bag over her shoulder and Mitsuru practically shouldered past her on her way in, both taking a seat on the side across from Shio.

At seeing Izumi, Shio smiled warmly. She was here, good. Now Shio could check on how she'd been doing, what sort of progress she'd made and then enlighten the rest of the group on their plan while everyone was still here and save her a trip of trying to find everyone to explain it to them.

"How's your work going?" Shio asked over the chatter of the other students when Izumi sat down. But Izumi didn't answer and Shio felt her smile slip, "…Hayasha-chan…?" she asked when she saw her face.

The expression on Izumi's face didn't raise much hopes, it was an expression Shio couldn't say she'd ever seen on her classmate's face. Her brows were knitted, a deep frown etched on her face as her eyes stared down sullenly at the table, unable to meet anyone's gaze. She hugged a bag tightly to herself as she seated herself across from Shio.

Shio felt flags start to raise, bright red ones, like Izumi had found something bad during her search.

"So what've you been up to, Hayasha-san?" Ren asked cocking his head to the side, "I saw you just wandering and snooping around the campus like you were looking pretty hard for something. Lose something?"

She didn't answer just looked at the table. So Shio spoke up on her behalf. "About that," she said clearing her throat as she stood up a little from her seat to address the group. "After we all split up following Monokuma's motive, Hayasha-chan suggested looking to see if there really are any bombs hidden around campus," Shio explained and looked back to Izumi with a gentle smile. "Did you find anything?"

There was a prolonged pause before Izumi finally looked back up at the group and, after swallowing hard, she placed the bag she was carrying on the table. "I wish I could say otherwise, but, I don't have good news," the thief admitted as she opened the bag and reached inside.

What she pulled out was a black metal ball, a little smaller than a bowling ball, with Monokumas face painted on it. Just the sight of it put an ominous feeling in the air.

"What's that?" Aito asked, a bit of interest in his eyes as he leaned towards the table to get a better look at it, "and where'd you find it?"

Izumi frowned as she tapped her fingers against the metal object. "I managed to find a hidden hatch where one of those Monokuma copies were hidden near the wall sealing us here. I pulled out the bear and found this hidden in it," she answered. "It's a bomb."

As soon as those words were out, several students jerked back, some leaping out of their chairs and backing up. Kousuke was one of them, moving so that there was another table between him and the rest of the group.

"Why the hell are you bringing a bomb in here? Are you trying to kill us?" he demanded, though there was a hint of panic, the small sign of fear, in his voice. "Do you realize just how dangerous this is? Do you?"

Tsubasa was another who had backed off when she learned what it was that Izumi brought to them. "I know you already have a criminal record that you're proud of and all that, but you don't need to add suicide bombing to it."

Several others started talking, one over another, panic rising as they feared the worse. Honestly, Shio needed to get the group to learn how to handle panic better. "Guys, guys!" Shio called out, and slowly but surely the group started to quiet down, "let's let Hayasha-chan explain."

Izumi gave her a grateful look and cleared her throat. "First of all, the bomb isn't going to go off, I made sure of that so we don't have to worry about this one blowing us up to kingdom come," she assured them all, but she still looked pale in the face. "The problem is that it means Monokuma isn't bluffing. At least about there being bombs spread out through the campus."

That was what Shio had been hoping wouldn't be the case. She firmly believed that Monokuma was just tricking them with the idea of blowing them up, but if there were bombs placed around the campus, then the idea of the motive being a huge bluff was less likely. Still, she had to hold onto hope and keep moving forward.

"Regardless, you already found one of them, thank you, Hayasha-chan," Shio said smiling happily at her friend.

Mitsuru frowned, her arms crossed as she nervously sat back down in her own seat. "So you said you found it in one of Monokumas spawn points? Any way we can block it to keep him from popping out in that spot?"

"I tried," Izumi admitted, "but as soon as I made a move to cover it up, Monokuma—the one I'd taken out of the hatch to retrieve the bomb—came to life and told me it was a big no-no to knowingly block his exit points. He made it into a regulation so you might want to check it out."

Shio slid out her E-Handbook and turned it on, taking a quick peek at the regulations. Most were the same; violence against Monokuma and destruction of the cameras and monitors were against the rules, graduation clause, nighttime from ten to seven. Then at the end was the one she was talking about, 'The knowing obstruction of any of Monokumas exit points is prohibited'.

"That means we're safe if we block one so long as we don't know that's where Monokuma comes from," Daichi said, "that's good. He could have been cruel and make it so we're punished even if we didn't know that's one of his hidden deployment hatches."

"He's also giving us a fighting chance here," Hayato said, speaking up from his corner at the table as he stared at the rule and then looked at Izumi. "He could have very easily made it so that disturbing these areas when we find them would be against the rules, making it impossible for Hayasha-san to retrieve the bombs that may be hidden inside them. But, he didn't. As the rules are right now, we're allowed to open them and take out whatever is inside, giving us the chance to find and deactivate these explosives before time runs out," he said slowly but clearly, letting his words sink in for the others. "He's given us a way to survive this motive without killing someone."

"Or it means," Taiyou cut in with his usual cheery, sing-song voice as he leaned back in his chair, feet kicked up on the table, "that the mastermind doesn't think we'll be able to survive even with this handicap. After all, who knows how many bombs there are. There's no way the sneak-thief over there can find and deactivate them all within the time limit. Monokuma knows this he's just giving us a bit of hope that'll come crashing down when we realize it's not working and we're running out of time."

"Adachi-kun," Shio began, but before she could get any further than that, Daichi cut her off, his fists slamming on the table as he glared at the blonde.

"Who're you to decide if we can or can't make it?" he asked, "I have full faith in Hayasha-san's capabilities. And, if we all work together to get through this, then there's no way we can't survive something like this."

But Taiyou was still smiling as he closed one eye, his other trained on Daichi. "Oooh? And how to you suppose we'll survive if she doesn't find and deactivate all the bombs? Dig ourselves little holes like rabbits and hope for the best?"

"We'll… we'll…" Daichi began, his voice wavering as he found himself at a loss, confronting Taiyou but with no actual ideas to present.

Yet it was fine, because when Taiyou said that a lightbulb went off for Shio and she clapped her hands together once with a small 'ah-hah!'. "That's it!" she said, and the all eyes were on her again. Taiyou was a freaking genius! "That's exactly what we can do."

"What…? Dig a hole?" Eisuke asked in disbelief.

Shio nodded her head firmly, "Yes. Not just a hole, we can build ourselves a makeshift shelter to protect us from the explosion," She explained, her pitch growing more and more excited as she spoke, the ideas rushing through her. "It's just, does anyone have a paper and pencil I can borrow?"

Yuu drew her bag to her front and began rummaging through it, "I do, hold on," she said and then withdrew a pen and a notebook, flipping it to a clean page before handing it off to Shio. "Here you go."

She took it with a thanks and began sketching. First a large circle, then a few rectangular shapes, writing down names to list what was what. She was a violinist, not an artist so it wasn't the best sketch, but it'd do. "See, this is the campus right now. I tried to put down where everything was and how they were facing to the best of my ability," she said and held out the items to Izumi, "Here, mark where you found the bomb."

"It was… right around here," Izumi answered and put a small Monokuma eye near the wall.

"Good, so that's one bomb, and to blow up the entire campus they'd need a lot. But, if we can try and clear out a specific area," she lightly began sketching a small bubble near where Izumi marked the bomb at, "that could be a safe zone farthest from the rest of the bombs. Of course we'd want to get rid of the other bombs too, to lessen the damage and all that."

Mitsuru let out a large groan. "Get to the point already! What does this have to do with digging a hole?"

Okay, so maybe she was dragging it on a little too much, "Sorry. Yeah, okay," Shio mumbled and then nodded to herself, "So, in the cleared area, we could build ourselves a hole. I think I saw plenty of tools that could work in the storehouse. We can fill sandbags up with the dirt we dig out to make a protective wall, or fill bags up with other things, preferable softer stuff that won't hurt us if they blow up, and when we draw close to the time limit, we can all climb into our makeshift bomb shelter where we'll be the safest on the chance that Monokuma isn't bluffing about blowing us up."

"Would that even work?" Tsubasa asked as she looked at the final project, a shabby drawing of a circle within her 'safe zone' circle with crudely drawn sandbags circling it. "I can't imagine we'd get that done in time."

"If we all work nonstop in shifts, it's possible," Takahiko offered. "We have groups of two to three people working and every few hours replace them with other students so they can rest. Even have students working during the night in groups to keep progress going."

"There's no rule saying we _can't_ ," Kasmi added, twiddling her fingers. "Though, Monokuma could easily make one when we start to keep us from doing it."

"It sounds like way too much work," Mitsuru grumbled, crossing her arms over her chest. "This kind of manual labor sounds like something for the dumb athletes, not for me."

Hikaru narrowed her eyes, "Watch what you say, princess, you're in the same boat as us. You really expect to survive if you don't pull your own weight?" she demanded. "Besides, do you really wanna pick a fight with us 'dumb athletes'? You wouldn't stand a chance."

Mitsuru looked like she wanted to say more, but quieted herself and sank in her chair with an expression like she just sucked a lemon.

"Guys, please, we're trying _not_ to start fights," Ren called out with his hands held out in a 'stop' gesture towards the two girls. "Or did you forget the point of this is to not get killed? Because all this hostility is not doing the job."

"She started it, the girl's all bark and no bite," Hikaru grumbled but said no more to that.

Glad that that bit of strife was over, Shio quickly got back to the topic at hand. "Like Saikawa-kun said, so long as we keep working at it, we should be able to get it done in time. It doesn't need to be super deep either. Just enough to keep us safe should the worse come to happen."

"It feels like a waste of time and energy," Taiyou complained, loudly voicing his opinion as usual. "I mean, come on, if someone just kills another, won't that solve the problem so much quicker?"

"Don't even joke about that, Adachi-san," Daichi snapped.

"I'm just saying it as it is, we'd have a better chance of surviving if we just sacrifice some people."

Taiyou continued grinning from ear to ear as he said that, as relaxed as ever even though Daichi looked on the verge of attacking him for that. Shio reached out and grabbed him by the hand and gave it a slight squeeze, forcing Daichi to look away from Taiyou and at her. She offered him a small smile before turning to the other boy.

Her gaze hardened and her smile vanished. "I know this isn't as interesting for you as a killing game is, Adachi-kun," she began, "but I'd rather not play into Monokuma's hand. I'd rather take this chance to keep everyone alive than let two of my friends die for the rest to live, regardless of how high or low the odds are."

Taiyou stared back at her, still smiling, his eyes unblinking as they locked onto her own, like he was trying to figure her out from a simple look. The seconds felt like hours before he finally shrugged and looked away. "Fine, fine, suit yourself. Just don't count on my help for this plan."

A few students grumbled as he got up and walked away, a skip in his step and a hum fading as he left the room. She hadn't let go of Daichi's hands, feeling how tense he was, how tense everyone was.

Despite his attitude, despite everything… Taiyou had a point. There was no guarantee that, if Izumi could not find all the bombs and should if Monokuma went through with this motive, that the makeshift bomb shelter she had planned would protect them, would keep them all alive and unharmed. The only guarantee they had to keep the majority alive would be if two sacrificed their lives.

It'd be the easiest and quickest.

But, no, she couldn't think that way. Even considering the idea of letting two of her valued friends die so she and the others could keep on living was awful, it filled her with a gut wrenching guilt just thinking about it.

"For what it it's worth…" Kasumi began quietly, looking down at her lap, "I think Shio-chan's idea is really good."

Hikaru nodded in agreement, "Yeah, that's an idea I can get behind."

"I can't say I've ever dug out a trench before," Goro scratched the back of his head, "But, yeah, I'd be for it. Better than killing someone."

Kousuke sighed and shook his head. "I'm not entirely happy about the idea of doing such physical and dirty work such as digging a hole, Kita-san had a point about her, and I by the same reasons, not being suited for this kind of work," be began but sighed again in resignation, "but it's the better option and I'd be much happier not dying."

"I know there are lots of bags in the warehouse, and there's a few boxes of spare pillow cases and blankets we could use as makeshift bags if we run out," Tsubasa offered.

Takahiko nodded as he spoke up next, "We could probably use some of the gym equipment for some cushioning against the explosions, too," he suggested "There's two punching bags and few stacks of those foldable gymnastic mats in the closet. They're pretty durable stuff, they could probably work."

"There's some yoga mats in there as well. If we roll them up tight, they'd make an okay wall. Maybe," Eisuke added.

Slowly but surely more and more of her classmates began voicing their opinions, their agreement to the plan. Even Mitsuru, in her own sarcastic way, agreed to it and threw in a duct tape suggestion to keep the bags and mats together. Of course Izumi promised to keep looking for bombs, and asked to keep the makeshift map of the campus so she could keep marking where she found them.

Daichi got to work almost immediately, setting up schedules for who will dig and when, with where the first bomb was found the decided location for the trench. Groups of three were decided on, that way two can keep digging and the third can run to the warehouse and gym closet for tools if they need something, that way they can have each other's back in case Monokuma tried something. And to help prevent someone from being killed during this.

By the looks of things, the only one considering the idea of murder was Taiyou. It worried her some, but, she had a feeling since day one that he would be a problem in here. He was naturally antagonistic, and while she wasn't sure if he was genuine in his statements or just saying them to cause a problem, she knew she was going to have to sort something out with him to help prevent more problems.

But, honestly, Shio wasn't even sure if this plan was going to work. Could a hole in the ground walled up by dirt bags and foam mats really protect them from some explosions? Could this really keep them safe?

God she hoped so.


	4. Hayato

There was so much going on and it was only one week in. A week too long if Hayato had a say in it. He tapped his fingers against the wood of his desk as he sat in his own dorm room, staring at the blank notebook in front of him, the crisp white pages waiting for him to write something, anything. It had been only an hour since the group had dispersed since their last meeting in the dining room, and Goro, Hikaru and Tsubasa should have been by the wall starting work on their makeshift bomb shelter right now if the others were going to actually do what they'd planned that evening during dinner.

He didn't really know what the others were up to. Takahiko and Yuu were probably hanging around somewhere together, Taiyou was likely up to no good and there was no doubt that Daichi was following Shio around like a lost puppy. Other than that, he didn't really know what the others were up to, and he kind of didn't really care too much, either.

The threat of the motive hung heavy over his head. It filled him with an awful, nauseating feeling. He was used to a sense of dread in the air, but never to this degree.

This place should have been easy for him since the point of their prison was to survive, he was the _Ultimate Survivor_ , for crying out loud. His entire talent, the thing that defined him as him was _surviving harsh environments._ Locked away in a prison like school with the threat of murdering one another certainly counted as a kind of harsh place. Yet this whole Killing Game had him more nervous, more scared than anything else had before. He would have preferred to be backpacking across the Alps or go into the Badlands again with minimal supplies again than be here.

But that was why he was stuck here. He had a talent for surviving, and that talent got the attention of whoever kidnapped them and brought them here. So, survive is what he had to do no matter what.

To do that, he needed an alliance.

Frowning at the stationary, he picked up a pen and began tapping it against the desk. Sure, the group was working together for now, but that unity was more of a façade than anything real. The motive had already rocked their boat and it wouldn't take much to capsize it entirely and to shatter that idea of trust they all had in each other.

What Hayato needed was a real alliance, one or two students he could rely on and trust to fight against his own paranoia.

Because, for reasons he couldn't understand, Hayato had been given a special perk over his other classmates. An advantage to help him in this game of murder. His eyes moved from the notebook lying in front of him to the small tablet next to it. All it had in it was a message sent to him, claiming to have been written by Hayato himself.

But, could he really believe it was written by himself? He didn't remember writing it at all, couldn't analyze the handwriting since it was typed and there weren't any writing quirks that stuck out to him.

He'd read the message a few dozen times already, could recite it by heart. It told him that after 'much consideration', Hayato had been picked over the other students to be given an advantage in this game. The first thing the message spoke of was a secret room hidden in one of the small rooms downstairs in the university center. Of course he was skeptical at first, but he did investigate when he had the chance. He didn't think that people still used false backs in closets, but there it was. It required a special key, one of which he did not have, so he hadn't gotten to see what was in that room, but obviously it was important if it was hidden and locked away. Likely had something valuable or dangerous if being privy to knowing it's existence was considered an advantage.

Then it went on to how there were other locations than what they had right now that would be unlocked when the time came. Apparently the Hayato, if he did write this, that wrote this message didn't know what those places were, or he wasn't allowed to disclose that information. All he could do was hope that there was something in those places that could help them get out of here or find out who was keeping them here.

Then there were the dorm rooms. The other students were given basic rooms. Spare clothes, towels, a few personal things like shampoo and soap already inside of them, the warehouse to get whatever else they might want to add to it. He had them in his room, too, but the mastermind gave him more to help further push him to use his advantage over the others. When he explored his room he found various small weapons hidden in different little nooks and crannies as well as a small bottle of poison he found in the medicine cabinet in his bathroom.

The people keeping them here were very insistent that he murder someone. But if something did happened and the others found out about his perk, about the weapons in his room, it'd make him look like the most likely suspect and he'd probably be fingered as the culprit with no hesitation from the others. Honestly, this advantage was more harmful than helpful.

At the end of the message left for him, he was told that he wasn't to tell anyone about this, that he couldn't trust anyone here. It made sense, if the others found out he had this kind of perk over the others, suspicions would be raised, they'd think he was working with the people keeping them here. Not only that, he barely knew the others, it was hard to trust someone he didn't know even if they were in the same situation as himself.

But if he couldn't trust anyone, how could he trust this message from unknown origins? How could he trust the him that wrote it? Sure, it _claimed_ to have been written by himself, but he had no way to prove it. No way to be sure it wasn't just a way the mastermind was trying to mess with him, trick him into killing someone. If he did write it, then that meant that the mastermind had a way to focus on certain memories and erase them. That sounded impossible, like something out of a movie, but it also explained so much. It'd explain why he couldn't remember writing the letter, how he got kidnapped, but could remember everything else. If the mastermind was erasing particular memories from them, it'd explain quite a bit but also raise more questions.

Would that mean Daichi's memory loss was a result of the mastermind as well? If so, why erase so many of his memories to the point that his entire identity and history was skewered? Perhaps his talent was too problematic? That he knew too much and could be a threat? Or perhaps he was a test subject for this memory erasing procedure and that was why they got rid of so many of his memories. Hayato wouldn't be surprised if it was just to make things more interesting. The mastermind certainly felt twisted enough to do that.

And it wasn't just that, Hayato was certain he was missing more memories than just writing the message. To what extant the memory loss went, he didn't know, only that his last memory before coming to this school didn't make any sense. He'd been buying supplies before he left for a small island to do an some island survival challenge he'd set himself up for; to spend a number of weeks on a small, uninhabited island with the only things with him being his clothes and a small backpack full of essentials, and of course a radio in case an emergency came up and he needed to leave sooner than planned. He remembered feeling no fear, no sense of urgency, just business as usual. Certainly no memory of getting kidnaped right after.

Could he have been kidnapped on his way to the island? Right after buying the supplies? Or had it happened after he finished his island challenge and came back to Japan? He didn't know, he could have weeks or years missing of his life.

It was likely everyone else had memories stolen from them, too. He remembered so much but so many others couldn't remember anything. So many vital similarities that the others didn't even seem to react upon, as though this is the first time they've ever heard of something like this. The way they acted, the way they talked, it was obvious none of them could remember.

He could try asking someone, see and compare what they remembered, but could he trust any of the others? The letter he received in his perk claimed that there could very well be a spy among them, it was possible that the Mastermind was even among their ranks. Whatever he did, there was a chance he'd be confiding to someone in direct contact with the Mastermind, was that a risk he wanted to take?

The chances that he'd choose someone on the Masterminds side was one in fifteen, but the statistic would go higher if he trusted more people.

So he could only trust a few. One… no, two. No more. Three was a safe number.

It was obvious that the point of the perk wasn't just to give him a leg up on the others, but it was meant to isolate him from the others as well, to paint a target on him should the other students learn of it. The mastermind wanted to keep him from trusting his classmates, keep them from trusting him, to help plant the seeds of distrust and disharmony in their group by immediately raising the suspicion of a traitor being in their ranks, to hasten this killing game.

But Hayato Himura was not going to be manipulated by the Mastermind. He'd do exactly what the Mastermind didn't want, he'd pick two students to trust and form an alliance with to fight against the Mastermind. He'd beat their captor at their own game and put an end to this murder game.

But, who could he ally himself with?

Hayato reached over and grabbed his E-Handbook and opened up the student roster, swiping through the profiles of his fellow students. The student listing the handbooks provided were rather useful, he would admit, though he found some of the information unneeded (Why would he want to know Mitsuru was practically flat chested or that Tsubasa had the biggest breasts? How was that useful in any way?). Some students he marked off right away. Mitsuru would never work with him and he could see her as an easy victim. Goro, while intelligent, would be like mixing water and oil in an alliance with him. Hikaru was friendly and easy to get along with, there was no doubt about that, but she had a temper and was quick to jump to the gun. As for Kasumi, she didn't have a whole lot that she could bring to the table and Aito was just out of the question.

Takahiko was a possibility, but Hayato had no idea how to earn and keep his loyalty, even more if he chose Takahiko, then he'd have to take Yuu as well since they were a two-person package. But Yuu wouldn't be helpful at all with what he had in mind, even more she seemed like she'd cave easy under pressure if the Mastermind decided to press her for information on their plans.

Ren was tricky, he was an actor and so Hayato could never be certain if the face he showed them, the personality he showed them was the real thing or if he was just tricking them all. He couldn't bring himself to trust someone if he never knew when they were being honest or not.

Eisuke and Tsubasa had potential, but they seemed more muscle than brains. He needed intelligence more than brawns to outsmart the mastermind. Though that wasn't to say they were idiots. Even more, Eisuke kind of rubbed him the wrong way.

Kousuke was intelligent and clever, but he wasn't easy to get along with. Plus, considering the amount of money it would have cost to put all this together, it wasn't unlikely that he was linked to the Mastermind with his family being an extremely wealthy one.

Taiyou… now there was an unpleasant idea.

Hayato scratched his cheek as he thought of the annoying bastard. He wasn't a team player, was sarcastic, arrogant and seemed to be the only one enjoying this horrible game. But he was constantly raising good points, like he was trying to keep them on their toes and not get too comfortable in this situation of theirs. He was intelligent, probably among the smartest among them all. But he was a liar too, it was hard to know if he was trustworthy or not, especially considering he's never even told them his talent. Every time it was a different talent, a different lie. But he didn't seem malicious, like he wanted them to suffer, but more like a little kid playing a game.

Definitely not Daichi. He was nice and all, but how could Hayato trust someone who couldn't remember their talent or life? He could be a sleeper agent for all they knew. There was no way Hayato was going to trust him until he knew what his talent was. there was also the fact that Daichi was had some form of a dependence problem, it was questionable how well the young man could function on his own, or if he could even keep anything a secret, especially from Shio. It was obvious that he'd latched onto her from day one, relying on her as some form of crutch.

Izumi was possible; she was quick witted, fast on her feet and observant, but her talent left him uneasy. She was a thief. A criminal no matter how you looked at it. Sure she was trying to be helpful and all, but who was to say she wouldn't cross the line and commit murder if it benefited her? He couldn't bring himself to trust someone whose whole talent is to trick and take from others.

And that left Shio. She was the one trying the hardest to keep the group working together, going out of her way to keep everyone calm and trying the hardest to prevent a killing. Out of everyone here, she was the most likely to die first, either becoming a murder victim or taken out by the Mastermind themselves. Her strive for unity, to prevent the killing game was painting a huge target on her back, he could see the Mastermind wanting to get rid of her as soon as possible. She was the glue keeping this group together after all, and if she was out of the picture they'd fall apart and the killing game would likely progress much quicker and smoother than it had so far.

Her charisma and brains got the group to follow her even if she hadn't intended to be their leader. There was no doubt in his mind that it was necessary that she didn't wind up dead if he wanted the group to stay together.

Out of all of them, she was the least likely to be working with the Mastermind, he was sure of that.

He thought over the students a few more, narrowing his list more and more until finally he'd come to a decision on who he could let himself trust. His mind had been made up and Hayato grabbed the notebook in front of him and picked back up his pen, organizing the words in his head before he began writing.

 _Uehara,_

 _I want to talk to you about the killing game and the motive. Meet me by the groups daily meeting spot after the nighttime announcement goes off. Please don't tell anyone you're meeting with me or bring anyone with you. I don't know who else I can trust._

 _-Himura_

Folding the paper in half, Hayato scrawled Shio's name on the front and set it aside before writing a second message on another sheet of paper. He was taking a gamble, but it was a necessary one if he was going to catch the Mastermind in their own game.


End file.
